April26, 2010

Washington, D.C.—Today, House Armed Services Committee Chairman
Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) released the statement below on
H.R. 4887, the TRICARE Affirmation Act, which the
President signed into law. The TRICARE Affirmation
Act, which was introduced by Skelton, was approved
unanimously by the House and the
Senate.

“Our brave men and women in
uniform provide us with first-class protection, and it is
our obligation to provide them—and their
families—with first-class health care in
return. By signing the TRICARE Affirmation Act,
President Obama reinforces that military health care
coverage will not be adversely affected by the health care
reform law.

“The TRICARE and NAF health
plans are such great plans that they already meet the
minimum requirements for individual health insurance
coverage in the recently enacted health care bill, and no
TRICARE or NAF health plan beneficiary will be required to
purchase additional coverage beyond what they already have.
However, to reassure our military service members and their
families and make it perfectly clear that they will not be
negatively affected by the health care reform law, the
TRICARE Affirmation Act explicitly states that TRICARE and
the NAF health plans meet the minimum requirements for
individual health insurance.”